Foreign trade still booming in Guangzhou
By Zheng Caixiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-18 09:14

GUANGZHOU: Guangdong recorded foreign trade volume of US$33.49 billion in March, up 16.2 per cent from the same month a year ago, according to statistics released by Guangdong Customs yesterday.

The southern Chinese province sold US$18.46 billion worth of products abroad last month, an increase of 22.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2004. Guangdong's imports reached US$15.03 billion in the previous month, up 9 per cent year-on-year, resulting in a surplus of US$3.43 billion in March.

The province's strong foreign trade performance helped it hit a foreign trade volume of US$83.06 billion in the first quarter of the year, year-on-year growth of 14.4 per cent, representing 28.1 per cent of the country's total.

Guangdong's export volume reached US$45.26 billion between January and March, up 21.8 per cent year-on-year, while imports stood at US$37.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.6 per cent.

The province that has been China's biggest foreign trader for more than two decades has notched up a foreign trade surplus of US$7.46 billion since the start of the year.

Exports from foreign-funded companies and joint ventures continued to play an increasingly important role in Guangdong's foreign trade industry.

Export volume from foreign-funded companies and joint ventures came to US$28.9 billion between January and March, up year-on-year 24.1 per cent and representing 63.9 per cent of the province's total.

Exports from privately-operated firms also witnessed a big year-on-year growth of 63.5 per cent to hit US$5.53 billion, but exports from State-owned enterprises grew by only 1.1 per cent on last year to reach US$9.06 billion for the first quarter.

Exports from general trade came to US$10.22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 37.2 per cent, while exports from the processing industry witnessed year-on-year growth of 17.5 per cent to stand at US$33.1 billion in the first three months.

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